KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Forty-five women, mostly from China, were picked up in Jalan Pudu yesterday evening during an Immigration swoop.

In their haste to escape arrest, some of the women got hurt after climbing a fence and falling.

Immigration enforcement director Datuk Ishak Mohamed, who led the operation which began at 5.30pm, said it was the third one conducted within two months.

"We conducted the raid not far from a nightclub that has been closed down. It was a very popular spot for prostitutes from foreign countries to gather," he said, adding that the women arrested were aged between 20 and 40.

Ishak said the women were known as "kuaci prostitutes" as their modus operandi was to eat melon seeds while waiting for customers.

He said the women had entered the country on social visit passes.

It is believed they charged between RM100 and RM150 for each session at a nearby budget hotel.

Ishak said the women have been detained under the Immigration Act and taken to the KL International Airport depot in Sepang.